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LONG POND — Juan Pablo Montoya kept saying he has been “getting there” in his return to open-wheel racing after seven seasons in NASCAR.

On a picturesque afternoon at Pocono Raceway, Montoya finally arrived.

He stamped his comeback to the Verizon IndyCar Series on Sunday by winning the Pocono IndyCar 500 Fueled by Sunoco at the 2.5-mile triangular track.

Starting from the pole, the 38-year-old Colombian led six times for 45 laps to earn his 12th career IndyCar victory, but first since Sept. 17, 2000, at Gateway in Illinois. Montoya competed in Formula One from 2001-06, then drove in the Sprint Cup Series from 2007-13.

“It’s been a long road,” Montoya said. “It’s been a lot harder than people realize. Driving open-wheel is so different than what I’ve been driving the last few years. It was going to take time. I didn’t feel like jinxing it by saying, ‘It’s coming, (a win) is coming.’ I’d rather be like, let’s keep working on it.”

With an average speed of 202.402 mph, Sunday’s race is the fastest 500-miler in IndyCar history. The previous best was 197.995 mph at Fontana, California, in 2002.

For the majority of the race, Montoya was content to run second behind either Will Power, his other Team Penske teammate, or Tony Kanaan. Power led 69 laps before a late-race penalty for blocking Castroneves ended his chances and saw him finish 10th. Kanaan led a race-high 78 laps, but finished 11th when a fuel-mileage gamble failed and he was forced to pit late.

“I didn’t want to lead,” Montoya said. “It’s about making fuel, learning how you can make more fuel and running smart and controlling the situation and the gap. I don’t know, I feel like I do a really good job at that.”

After the first 158 laps were run under green, the lone caution of the race occurred on lap 159 when Graham Rahal spun and hit the wall in turn 2. That’s when things got interesting.

One lap after the race restarted on lap 166, Montoya challenged Power for the lead in turn 1. Their cars touched, causing slight damage to Montoya’s front wing, but not enough to prevent him from making the pass.

“Track position is everything, and that was the only shot I had at passing Will and I had to take it,” Montoya said. “He lifted too early and I held it wide open. I said, until I don’t clear him, I’m not lifting.”

Before the end of the race, Montoya had to make one more pit stop, which he did on lap 187. That put Josef Newgarden and Kanaan 1-2 in the running order.

Both of those drivers had pitted during the caution on lap 161, hoping that if another caution came out, they might be able to stretch their fuel mileage to the end.

But that didn’t happen. Newgarden pitted on lap 194, handing the lead to Kanaan. Then on lap 197, Kanaan had to pit for fuel. Montoya inherited the lead, which he held the rest of the way.

“For him (Kanaan) to make it, he’s (either) got to run really slow, and if he runs really slow, we’ll get to him,” Montoya said. “If he runs a little bit hard, he’s going to run out of gas. They were planning on a caution. If you get a caution with four or five laps to go, he wins the race. But it is what it is, you know?”

Montoya is part of a select group of drivers who have won races in both NASCAR and IndyCar. Some of the other names on that list include Mario Andretti, A.J. Foyt, Dan Gurney, Tony Stewart, John Andretti and Robby Gordon.

This one, though, was special for Montoya because it validates his return.

“I really wanted to be here in IndyCar,” he said.

Now, officially, he’s back.

Contact the writer:

swalsh@timesshamrock.com

@swalshTT on Twitter

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